If you go to the state tourism Web site and try to request information about our area, you may just pick the wrong area.

Maybe we need a name.

We’re not Portland. We’re certainly not Portland. (Not that there’s anything wrong with Portland.)

Nor do we aspire to be Portland. On this we can all agree.

And we’re not Down East. As much as we admire the coast of Maine, the coast of Maine is not us. The lobsters that once lurked on our license plates always seemed particularly out of place.

We’re not sprawling like The County. Our compact, lake-bound, river-run corner of Maine swells from the plains of Oxford to some of the highest peaks in Maine, but it’s all, well, close by. A two-hour drive on two-lane blacktop will generally get you from one corner of our territory to the other.

And we’re not, by any stretch of the imagination, awash in the red tape or white collars of Augusta. The bureaucratic trappings of the capital city are unlike anything we have to offer, a fact that delights most of us.

It’s easy to celebrate what we aren’t but sometimes difficult to say what we are. We are diverse, a corner of Maine with historic mill towns and rustic tourist spots, with groomed ski slopes and vast snowmobiling networks, with dazzling green forests and dazzling blue lakes.

Yet there is a commonality that exists beyond the yellow newspaper tubes that line our rural roads. We have all delighted in our quality of life, though articulating this quality to someone who doesn’t live here is tricky. We wrap it all up with the independence, work ethic and pride of the people who call these pockets of western Maine home.

It is ski slopes, snowmobiling, history, pride, independence and more. Much more.

It is a common bond strengthened, regrettably, by the disinterest in our area so often displayed in the other sectors of the Maine. We get overlooked. On this we can all agree, too.

We may just need a name for us. Something catchy. Something bold. Something we can identify on the state Web site.

Sometimes, to celebrate something, we need a name to proclaim. It should fit. It should sparkle a bit. It should be memorable and easy to spell.

It should make us proud.

The Sun Journal is searching for that name. We’ll use it in our stories. We’ll use it to headline our sections. We hope you’ll use it, too.

But first: Help us find it.

We’re looking for a name that has the qualities we see here and that evokes the pride we feel living here.

If you have a suggestion, please send it along. Write to:

Ben Stackhouse

Sun Journal

P.O. Box 4400

104 Park St.

Lewiston, ME 04243-4300

Or e-mail to: [email protected]

Please include YOUR name and address, too.

The state calls our area “Maine Lakes and Mountains.” You can do better.

We’ll get back to you with the results of our name quest in about a month. If we have a winner, we promise there will be a prize. Maybe even a party.

Thanks.